


to sleep, perchance to kiss

by grapalicious



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Fix It Fic, Happy Ending, Kisses, M/M, all the dwarves kiss an unconscious hobbit but it's mostly totally innocent okay, sleeping enchantment, unconscious!Bilbo, worried!dwarves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 06:38:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1169863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapalicious/pseuds/grapalicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo falls into a river and consequently into an enchanted sleep.</p>
<p>Balin vaguely remembers a story from his childhood and thinks they can wake Bilbo with a kiss.</p>
<p>There's no harm in trying, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	to sleep, perchance to kiss

**Author's Note:**

> I suck at titles, I'm so sorry. Also I seem to have a thing for writing kissing stories. I swear the next Hobbit fic I write will not revolve around a bunch of characters kissing one person.
> 
> This story basically came about because I mixed the idea of Bilbo falling into that enchanted river that was in the book instead of Bombur with the idea of an enchanted sleep needing to be broken with a kiss like in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

They knew the quest to reclaim their kingdom would not be an easy one.

And so they'd prepared. They packed their weapons and their food and put on their best boots and set out on their mission. Though it was true that they were few in number, they were in no short supply of determination, loyalty, or courage.

Unfortunately, they found out very fast that they weren't, in fact, prepared.

They weren't prepared for orcs, or wargs. They weren't prepared for dealings with elves. They weren't prepared for shapeshifters or tainted forests.

And they were _not_ prepared for magic.

Mirkwood reeked with an oppressive, ominous stench that set the whole of Thorin Oakenshield's company on edge. Something was wrong with the forest; there was a constant feeling of something not natural.

They shouldn't have been surprised with the results of their hobbit falling into a river. But then again, they hadn't really expected the river to be _enchanted_ , of all things.

Bilbo had lost his footing and tumbled into the water. Fortunately, Dwalin was able to quickly grab onto Bilbo's jacket and haul him out of the water.

Unfortunately, Bilbo was unconscious. Bilbo had mentioned before that hobbits weren't swimmers. Some of the dwarves started panicking, fearing the worst for their burglar. But he hadn't been in the water nearly long enough to drown. In fact, he'd barely been in long enough to get fully submerged.

He should've been fine- soaking wet, maybe- but fine. Not unconscious. They called his name and gave him a few gentle shakes, but Bilbo only lay still on the ground.

Of course, Oin quickly shooed the dwarves away from hovering over Bilbo so he could check for injuries.

"Is he hurt?" Thorin asked, worry evident in his voice.

"I don't know yet," said Oin as he carefully cradled the hobbit's head he was inspecting. "Give me a minute." He glanced up at Bofur, Ori, and Kili who were huddled anxiously close by. "And give me a bit more room, will you?"

Tension was thick in the air as they awaited Oin's diagnosis.

"What if he's dead?" asked Ori, sounding close to tears.

"He's not dead," Bofur assured him. "Look, you can see he's still breathing."

"What if he's dying?"

"Nonsense," protested Kili, though he was biting his lip as he peered down at Bilbo. "He got past goblins all on his own, he's not going to be taken out by a stream."

Gloin cautiously edged closer to the river, studying the area where Bilbo tumbled in. "Is there something in the water? A creature that could have bit or stung him?"

Dwalin answered, "None that I saw." He, too, gazed into the river as if it would give them the answers they needed.

"Oin?" Thorin urgently prodded.

"Just another minute."

It got quiet then, most of the company's eyes fixed on their healer and their hobbit. Bifur glanced wildly around, wary of any attack that might happen. Fili kept looking back and forth between Thorin and Bilbo like his uncle somehow had the power to fix this whole situation.

"He's not got any injuries," Oin finally announced. "And he's not concussed. His heartbeat, his breathing- completely normal. As far as I can tell, he's only sleeping."

Sighs of relief echoed throughout the company. But confusion was still etched across their faces. If Bilbo was fine, then-

"Then why isn't he waking up?" Kili's quiet voice asked the question everyone was thinking.

No one had an answer.

They tried shaking the hobbit awake again. Fili and Kili lightly slapped his cheeks a few times. They called Bilbo's name. Bofur practically screamed at the hobbit to wake up.

But still he slept.

Eventually they stopped trying to rouse their burglar and all eyes turned to Thorin. He was the leader; it was up to him what course they would take next.

Thorin took a deep breath. They had to keep going. Even if Durin's Day wasn't drawing closer with each new sunrise, they had to get out of Mirkwood. They needed to leave this strange darkness behind.

An unconscious hobbit would be a burden. Would probably slow them down and hinder them.

But they couldn't leave him behind. Not when Bilbo had proven himself to be invaluable to them. Not when the whole company had grown so... fond of him. Thorin especially.

So a burden he might be, but he was burden they would bear.

"We move on. And we take turns carrying Bilbo," Thorin told the company. _And we hope he wakes up soon_ were the unspoken words that everyone heard anyways.

No one argued and soon they were back to trudging through the forest, every once in awhile passing the hobbit from one to another. There was an odd gratefulness among them that if one of their company had to be lugged about, at least it was their smallest members instead of, say... Bombur or Dwalin.

"It must've been the water," mused Balin from beside Thorin. "It must've contained some sort of magic."

It wasn't the conclusion Thorin, or any of them, wanted to hear. Magic. What could dwarves do that would undo magic? They weren't prepared for that. If only their wizard hadn't deserted them. Gandalf might have been able to do something.

But here they were without a wizard, with the most clever member of their company out cold and showing no signs of waking, wandering through dangerous woods.

They didn't have much of a choice but to keep moving onwards.

They journeyed on until nightfall, no one saying much except for one argument that broke out between Dwalin and Fili over whether Bilbo should be carried like a sack of potatoes or like a babe.

Dwalin had Bilbo cradled in his arms like a dwarfling when they stopped to make camp.

Bilbo was laid on top of his bedroll and once again the dwarves tried to wake him. Once again, he didn't respond.

"Maybe he just needs a good night's sleep," suggested Bofur. "Perhaps in the morning he'll wake feeling good as new." He looked so hopeful and optimistic that no one had the heart to disagree. Though doubtful they were, they also wished what Bofur said turned out to be true.

It didn't turn out to be true. Whatever magic was at work, it didn't have the power to grant wishes. Morning came and Bilbo still refused to be woken.

They gathered up their belongings and their hobbit and continued on.

This pattern lasted for days. Thorin's company trekked through the forest during the day, made camp at night. They tried over and over again to wake Bilbo up. They asked him politely to wake; they demanded he open his eyes. They sang songs and told stories. Being silent didn't work and neither did being loud.

Kili had even started spouting out random words saying that there might be a password that would snap Bilbo out of whatever enchantment he was under.

Ori worried over and over that Bilbo was dying and the only thing that placated him was when they pointed out that Bilbo didn't look ill at all, he looked like he was peacefully dreaming about his hobbit hole.

Oin suggested that they might simply have to wait for the effect to wear off of Bilbo. Which might've been easier if dwarves didn't tend to be slightly impatient.

Nori claimed that the best chance of waking Bilbo up was to get him out of Mirkwood. Good idea, if only they could find the edge of the damned cursed forest.

Thorin privately hoped that Gandalf would come and make one of his heroic last minute rescues.

On the ninth day that Bilbo was unconscious, the company had been walking along when suddenly Balin stopped and looked thoughtfully at the hobbit nestled in Bifur's arms.

"Balin?" Thorin stopped too and tried not to let the hope rise in his chest. Balin was wise and a great advisor but that didn't mean he'd suddenly figured out how to wake up Bilbo.

The rest of the company slowly stilled one by one.

Balin glanced at Thorin. "It's a long shot," he sighed. Thorin nodded encouragingly. A long shot was just as good as anything they'd tried so far.

"I remembered a story I'd heard as a lad, it must've been well over a hundred years ago now..."

Thorin furrowed his eyebrows. He had no idea where Balin could be going with this.

"I don't...," Balin hesitated. "I don't remember the exact details."

"What was the story about?" asked Kili impatiently. Thorin shot his nephew a stern look.

Balin sighed. "It was about a young maiden who fell into an enchanted sleep."

The next instant had thirteen dwarves speaking at once.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

"What happened? How was the enchantment broken?"

"Bilbo's not a maiden though and he fell into a river."

It was a jumble of questions and half conversations until Thorin said Balin's name loudly and authoritatively; everyone quieted and turned to the white haired dwarf.

"There's nothing to be done for how the enchantment was cast," Balin went on, "and I'm not sure I quite remember how it happened in the story. But perhaps something can be done to break the enchantment- something we haven't tried yet. In the story, the magic was broken by a kiss."

"A kiss?" asked Kili.

"You know, like when someone puts their lips on someone-"

"I know what a kiss is, Fili!"

Fili ignored his incensed brother and addressed Balin. "It's just a story though. What if it's not true?"

"I think you'll find, my dear boy," Balin smiled, "that more stories are based on truth than you realize."

"So... you're saying someone should give Bilbo a kiss? To wake him up?" Bofur clarified.

"Yes."

The company turned to Thorin once again. They obviously wanted his opinion on the matter. Thorin thought to himself that although the idea seemed farfetched, it wasn't much worse than what they'd tried so far. Still, magic that was broken with a kiss? A bit strange.

Of course, this all lead to the thought of kissing Bilbo. A thought that Thorin had very actively tried to avoid thinking of in the recent portion of their quest. Whenever Bilbo smiled or laughed or did a million other stupid little things, Thorin had the urge to go up to the hobbit and claim those smiling lips with own. Thorin banished the thought every time it popped up. It would do him no good. He had a quest to finish and no time for getting distracted by courageous, clever little hobbits.

He almost, just for a fleeting moment, told them no. Thorin didn’t really want anyone else kissing Bilbo, but he also didn’t want to kiss Bilbo himself. At least, not in these circumstances. Not if he absolutely didn’t have to. Not with the hobbit of his private affections all but dead to the world and the entire company watching. Besides, what if it didn’t even work? But… what if it did? If there was even a slight chance that it could wake Bilbo up, then Thorin had to say yes. He’d let every elf in Middle Earth kiss Bilbo if it meant that Bilbo would be okay.

"What can it hurt? We must give it a try." Thorin told the company.

But then it seemed that no one knew exactly how to go about giving it a try. There was some muttering and shuffling around until finally all the dwarves just looked anxiously at Bifur.

Bifur, who was still holding Bilbo in his arms, bent his head and lifted the hobbit until their lips met in a peck. After a few moments, Bilbo still lay prone in his arms and Bifur looked up at the rest of the company with a shrug and a shake of his head.

The dwarves, for the most part, tried to hide their disappointment.

“I knew it was a long shot,” Balin muttered. They all started to get ready to move again.

“Wait!” Bofur cried out. The dwarves paused their movements to give him their attention. Bofur’s eyes were still fixed on Bifur and Bilbo. “What if won’t work with just one kiss? What if the enchantment is so strong that it takes multiple kisses to break it?”

Multiple kisses? Thorin didn’t know how he felt about that. Yes, they were doing it to try save Bilbo but… there were so many things about this situation that Thorin was uncomfortable with. Thorin had half a mind to grab Bilbo and beg the first wizard he found to fix him, even it was Radagast. He’d rather Radagast heal Bilbo than actually let every elf in Middle Earth put their lips on his unconscious burglar.

But then Balin frowned thoughtfully. “That… might work, actually.” He raised an eyebrow at Thorin.

“Fine,” grumbled Thorin, pushing aside his discomfort the best he could. It’s for Bilbo, he thought. If this works, then it’s worth it. Thorin took off his coat and laid it on the ground. He gestured for Bifur to lay Bilbo on top of it.

Once the hobbit was settled on Thorin’s coat, Thorin turned to Bofur. “Well?”

Bofur looked back, startled. “Well, what?”

“It was your suggestion,” said Thorin. “You should see if there’s any merit to it.”

Taken aback, Bofur glanced between Bilbo and Thorin a few times with wide eyes. His gaze finally settled on Bilbo and Bofur moved until he stood right beside him. Slowly, he knelt on the ground. He pulled the hat off his head and held it to his chest. Bofur bent down and very, very gently kissed Bilbo.

The company held their breath. Only to let out saddened sighs when the hobbit didn’t so much as twitch after Bofur had sat back.

Bofur stood up and put his hat on, looking dejected.

Then, before the company barely had time to blink, Ori was on the ground next to Bilbo kissing the hobbit a lot less gently than either Bifur or Bofur had. Actually, he wasn’t kissing him gently at all. Ori was practically attacking the hobbit’s mouth with his own. Thorin might’ve said something except his own mouth was hanging wide open and his brain was having trouble forming words.

“Ori!” exclaimed Dori, looking as scandalized as most of the rest of the dwarves felt.

Ori stood back up, panting slightly. He crossed his arms and looked defiantly at his older brother. “What? I’m trying to save him! Now it’s your turn.”

“What?”

“Get over here and kiss him!” Ori hissed.

Dori grumbled but went over to sit beside Bilbo. He hesitated for a moment, but after a fierce look from Ori he gave the hobbit a quick kiss. Bilbo didn’t move a muscle.

Then Dori was shoved out of the way as Ori pushed Nori down next to Bilbo. “You have to kiss him too!” Ori told Nori.

Nori rolled his eyes but complied and gave Bilbo a kiss that was just slightly longer than a peck. Still not a move from Bilbo.

A nudge in the side from Bofur was all Bombur needed to get moving and he was not too far behind Nori in giving Bilbo a kiss, although it took him a minute to move his beard out of the way because it kept falling over the hobbit’s face. Bombur’s kiss did nothing either.

Thorin put his hands on his nephews’ shoulders to stop them when he noticed Fili and Kili moving towards Bilbo. It was hard enough to watch all the other dwarves kissing Bilbo, he really didn’t want to watch his nephews kissing him too.

Gloin stepped forward next but before he knelt next to their burglar he looked up and said, “My dearest wife, my beloved, wherever you are, please know that what I am about to do, I do for the sake of our burglar and for his health and not out of any attraction I feel for him. I would never betray you or our bond, my love-“

“Gloin,” Thorin interrupted. “Could you just… get on with it?”

The dwarf nodded and then bestowed a kiss upon Bilbo. It had no effect at all.

Thorin grabbed at Fili and Kili’s shoulders again when they made to move. “This isn’t working!” Thorin growled.

“It’s not working _yet_ ,” protested Kili. “Just let me try-“

“It’s not working, Kili,” said Thorin softly but firmly. It wasn’t. Bilbo lay just as still as he had since they pulled him out of the river and no matter how many of the dwarves kissed him there was no improvement.

Oin set about examining Bilbo again. He listened to his heart. He peeled back Bilbo’s eyelids to look at the hobbit's eyes. And then he bent down and kissed Bilbo.

“Oin?” Thorin wasn’t really sure what was happening. Was the kissing actually helping Bilbo in some way that wasn’t obvious? Had Oin discovered something? Was Bilbo getting better?

Looking up, Oin explained, “I thought maybe the person who was doing the kissing might be important somehow. I thought since I was a healer… maybe I could heal him. With a kiss.”

Thorin… didn’t quite know if he followed that logic, but Bilbo was still unconscious so it didn’t really matter.

“Now that you mention it,” Balin spoke up, “I do seem to recall that in the story the person’s identity was important in breaking the spell.”

Thorin sighed. He only remembered that _now_? Seemed like a detail they could have used about… maybe eight kisses ago.

“Important how?” Thorin asked him.

“I think…,” said Balin, eyes slightly unfocused as he tried to remember. “Yes, I think the person who broke the spell was a warrior.”

Dwalin grunted. “So, a warrior’s got to kiss him then?”

Balin nodded at his brother. “Yes.”

“Then I suppose this is up to me,” Dwalin said determinedly and marched over to Bilbo. He struggled for a few moments as he tried to figure out where to put his hands until he finally settled for grabbing Bilbo’s shoulders and just pulling him up into a firm kiss. Thorin was just thankful it wasn’t as enthusiastic as Ori’s. When Dwalin let go, he frowned down at the hobbit, looking confused as to why Bilbo still slept on. He got up and lifted one shoulder in shrug as he looked at Thorin.

“Balin,” Thorin said quietly. Balin gave an acknowledging hum. “You’re the oldest warrior among us. You should try.”

Balin raised an eyebrow. He didn’t move until Thorin gave him a nod, then went and gave Bilbo his… tenth kiss? Was that really how many kisses Bilbo had been given in his unconscious state? Thorin tried to ignore the sickening feeling in his stomach.  
Bilbo still didn’t stir after Balin’s kiss, but Balin sat back thoughtfully. “Perhaps I remembered incorrectly,” he said. “Because now I believe that the person who broke the spell was a prince.”

Thorin blinked. A prince-?

Kili lit up. “We’re princes!” he said excitedly, gesturing to himself and Fili. He grabbed his brother and pulled him over to the hobbit. Thorin didn’t bother trying to stop them.

Fili settled down on one side of Bilbo and Kili sat on the other side. Kili started to lean down but Fili pushed him back and said, “I’m the oldest. I should go first.”

Fili gave Bilbo a kiss that Thorin could only describe as… sweet. For some reason it made Thorin’s chest ache. Fili lifted his head to look at Bilbo, disappointment filling his face as the hobbit remained sleeping.

And then Kili pushed his brother out of the way and swooped down, capturing Bilbo’s lips in another kiss that wasn’t nearly as sweet as Fili’s. Kili’s kiss was more controlled than Ori’s had been, but it was just as fierce. Thorin felt slightly horrified. Where had Kili even learned to do that? And why did he have to kiss Bilbo like that? Thorin almost had to look away.

After Kili finished his kiss, which lasted way too long in Thorin’s opinion, Kili stared at Bilbo’s face hopefully. Then his expression fell and he bent down to give Bilbo another kiss. He pulled back, frowned, and then frantically kissed Bilbo again. Fili finally put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and Kill stopped, looking miserable.

Thorin felt miserable. He wanted to comfort his nephews, but he also had the strange urge to scold Kili, and he wanted to kiss- no. He didn’t want to kiss Bilbo. He just wanted Bilbo to wake up.

“Hmm, now that I think about it,” Balin was saying now, “he might have been a warrior _and_ a prince.”

The company’s eyes landed on Thorin once again. What did they want now? He had no idea where they’d find someone who was a warrior and- oh. Right. Well, okay, but technically Thorin wasn't a prince anymore, he was an exiled king. So it wouldn’t work anyways. Technicalities. But… what if any kind of royalty was good enough? And Thorin _used_ to be a prince. So it still counted, didn’t it? But, no, he wasn’t kissing Bilbo. He just… wasn’t. But… what if this was the last chance he’d ever have to kiss him?

“I think there was a dragon in the story,” said Balin absently.

Okay, _no_. Thorin was _not_ letting a dragon kiss Bilbo. No way. What kind of stories did Balin listen to as a child? Thorin shook his head to himself and stalked over to Bilbo. He rested on his knees and studied Bilbo’s face. From the curls hanging down over his forehead to his pink lips that were slightly parted. Thorin cupped Bilbo’s face in his hands and pressed his lips softly to Bilbo’s. He his eyes and the only thought that went through his head was, _please wake up, please don’t let this be the last time I kiss you._ Thorin slowly deepened the kiss, wishing with everything he had that it would be enough to wake his hobbit.

And then Thorin realized that there were lips moving against his and he registered an intake of breath and when Thorin pulled back and opened his eyes it was to see a pair of sapphire eyes looking back.

“Did you-“ Bilbo’s voice was slightly hoarse. “Did you just kiss me?”

The company started cheering and chatting, but Thorin barely heard them because all his attention was focused on Bilbo.

“Yes, I-“ Thorin cleared his throat. “Do you remember what happened?”

“Uh…,” Bilbo frowned and looked around. “Did I fall asleep?”

“You fell into a river,” Thorin explained. His heart felt like it was beating too fast. Way too fast. “You’ve been asleep for nine days. We couldn’t wake you.”

Bilbo slowly nodded as he absorbed this information. He glanced up at Thorin. “You did wake me though.”

Thorin could only shrug.

Bilbo smiled at him. "I had a fantastic dream..."

It hit Thorin then how completely unprepared he'd been for this quest. He'd been prepared for hardships and he'd been prepared to put up a fight. But he hadn't been prepared for a hobbit that made his heart thump harder in his chest.

They speculated on what it was that finally woke Bilbo. Did he just need a kiss from each member of the company? Was it Thorin’s kiss that did it? Did the river enchantment simply happen to coincidentally wear off at that time?

They each had their own opinions, but one opinion all of them shared was that they were glad they had their burglar awake again.

Thorin didn’t kiss Bilbo anymore after that.

-  
-

It wasn't until later, much later, that any of them really knew the truth.

Gandalf did indeed make a last minute rescue, although no one probably recognized it as such. But if he hadn’t had a talk with Bilbo, leading to a certain revelation, things might have turned out very differently.

Bilbo was about to leave Erebor. He’d helped the company to gain back their home, the dragon was dead, a battle was fought. Harsh words had been spoken, then apologies had been made, then more apologies, then some forgiveness, then more forgiveness, then friendships were slowly mended.

Bilbo and Thorin’s relationship was something new now. Something different than anything it had been while on their journey.

But Bilbo didn’t feel like he really had a reason to stay. He didn’t want to wear out his welcome and the dwarves did have a kingdom they needed to rebuild. It was probably time he went back to the Shire.

It was a few days before Bilbo planned to leave when he ran into Gandalf. Gandalf invited him to share some pipe weed and they sat and talked for awhile. Bilbo was finally able to fill Gandalf in on all of the things that had happened during the adventure while Gandalf had been absent. Including how he fell into an enchanted sleep.

Gandalf listened to the story intently. “And you woke up when Thorin kissed you?” Gandalf asked.

Bilbo nodded, taking a puff from his pipe.

Gandalf shook his head. “I had no idea,” he muttered.

“No idea what?”

“I’ve heard of this kind of enchantment before,” said Gandalf. “It’s old and somewhat rare, but there’s only one way to break the enchantment.”

“Which was what exactly?” Bilbo asked curiously. It had always been something of a mystery to him and the company. “We could only guess at what it was.”

“The only way to break a spell like that, my dear Bilbo, is to be awoken by true love’s kiss,” Gandalf enlightened him, a twinkle in his eye.

Bilbo spluttered, “Wait, wha- true love’s- what?”

“You could only have woken up when one who truly loved you with all their heart, and one whom you could love back, had kissed you.”

“So…?” Bilbo trailed off and Gandalf nodded. Bilbo’s eyes widened, he stood and thanked Gandalf for the pipe weed.

Then Bilbo ran as fast as could until he found Thorin.

The dwarf raised a questioning eyebrow at him while Bilbo panted.

“When I was under that sleeping enchantment,” Bilbo said between breaths, “you were the one that was kissing me when I woke up?”

Thorin frowned. “You know I was. Why?”

“Gandalf said- he told me- that enchantment could only be broken by true love’s kiss.”

Thorin didn’t say anything but he sucked in his breath and a storm of emotions swirled through his eyes.

"Did you love me?" Bilbo gave a small shake of his head and changed his question. " _Do_ you lo-"

"Yes," was Thorin's whispered answered to both questions. And it was the answer to all the questions Bilbo didn't quite have the courage to ask. _Would you have me? Can I stay? Will this change things?_

Bilbo simply said, "I love you, too."

And then Thorin and Bilbo shared their first kiss where neither of them were under the influence of magic.

It felt magical anyways.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if I'm capable of writing endings that aren't cheesy.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and I'm always open to story ideas or requests.


End file.
